Sandbox III: Revenge of the Sandbox

If you are not certain that the audience will like your draft, consider getting the basic concept reviewed and polished up in the Ideas and Brainstorming Forumbefore writing out the full piece. When you have a draft ready for feedback, bring it to the Drafts and Critiques Forum. Please note that the mainsite-run IRC chatrooms are the most reliable source of real-time critique discussion.

SCP Sandbox

Please note that a standard sandbox can only be edited by the original author or a mod/admin. For collaborative pages, please read the instructions here.Sandbox titles should have the author name, not draft name. This helps make it clear at a glance who owns the page. Remember to click "Save" and NOT "Save Draft" when editing pages.

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-XXXX is to be monitored from Outpost-82, which is to be staffed by at least seven security personnel and four maintenance personnel at all times. The entirety of ███████-12 is surrounded by an electrified chainlink fence, the integrity of which is to be inspected daily via the use of a drone. Any damage done to the fence is to be repaired within as short a timeframe as possible by a crew consisting of two maintenance personnel and four security personnel, armed in accordance with Document-XXXX-Gamma.

Kant counters are to be placed at regular intervals along the fence, in order to monitor SCP-XXXX’s area of effect. If abnormal fluctuations in Hume levels are detected for more than two minutes at any point along the fence, or if the fence’s electrical supply fails, protocol Vedmak is to be enacted immediately. No entry into SCP-XXXX is permitted at this time.

Description: SCP-XXXX is a facility located within the former "closed town" of ███████-12, in Northern Siberia. Both the town and SCP-XXXX were constructed by GRU Division P in 19██, and remained in operation until shortly before the Division's dissolution in 1991. The facility is primarily subterranean, and consists of eight levels, only two of which are located aboveground. Based on documents recovered from Division archives, the facility was used for anomalous research, primarily in the fields of parabiology and cybernetics, while the surrounding town was used for the accommodation of GRU personnel. However, all anomalous objects were removed from the facility following [REDACTED] in October 1989, with the exception of SCP-XXXX-1.

SCP-XXXX-1 is a chamber located on the facility's lowest level, bearing superficial similarities to an RBMK-type nuclear reactor, although many of its components show significant deviations from this design:

In place of traditional graphite control rods, SCP-XXXX is fitted with a network of hexagonal prisms, composed of an as-of-yet unidentified alloy, which has resisted all attempts at sampling.1

An array of heavily-shielded cables connects each prism to a large, oblong protrusion in the chamber’s eastern wall. However, at present, only ██% of these cables are intact, with the rest having been forcefully disconnected from their respective prisms, and displaying evidence of [DATA EXPUNGED].

The device’s fuel rods are identical in almost all respects to those normally used in RBMK reactors, with the sole exception of the fuel pellets’ structure - rather than compressed masses of uranium dioxide, they appear to be hollow iron spheres filled with liquid gallium. Each sphere is inscribed with an unknown symbol, thought to be a thaumaturgic glyph.2

The center of the reactor chamber is exposed, and appears to house a large metallic canister. Its exact contents are unknown, but are presumed to be the source of the object's anomalous properties (see Addendum 1).

Further analysis of the device’s internal layout has proven impossible following Incident SCP-XXXX-D, as any attempts to approach SCP-XXXX-1 are met with both hostility from SCP-XXXX-2, and a significant increase in the strength of SCP-XXXX-1’s anomalous properties.

The primary anomalous property of SCP-XXXX-1 stems from its effect on local reality. The object is capable of causing rapid fluctuations in Hume level within an area of variable shape encompassing most of SCP-XXXX. This effect is most pronounced at a focal point within SCP-XXXX-1 itself (which can be visually identified by a faint, white light), and diminishes in severity based on distance from said point. This point is capable of relocating itself within the confines of SCP-XXXX-1’s chamber – most often, it is located in either the object’s control room, or at the center of the “reactor vessel”. The fluctuations caused by SCP-XXXX-1 have a pronounced, negative effect on most complex structures which enter its area of effect, including living organisms – by drastically altering Hume levels in various components of such structures, a form of “reality gradient” is created between them, resulting in [DATA EXPUNGED]. The only complex structures unaffected by this are SCP-XXXX-1 and SCP-XXXX-2.

Secondary effects of SCP-XXX-1 include the alteration of nearby architectural layouts (often creating pathways which fail to adhere to Euclidean geometry), and the seemingly random transmutation of substances into gallium. SCP-XXXX-1’s effects may be partially mediated by the introduction of Scranton Reality Anchors, though prolonged use invariably attracts SCP-XXXX-2.

SCP-XXXX-2 is a metamorphic entity residing within SCP-XXXX. Its appearance and dimensions are in a state of constant flux, and it is capable of manifesting/demanifesting appendages, organs and [DATA EXPUNGED] seemingly at random. Its behavior is also highly unpredictable - its reaction to humans entering SCP-XXXX can range from curiosity, to fear or aggression, and transitions between these states seemingly at random.3 SCP-XXXX-2 also possesses similar reality-destabilizing capabilities to SCP-XXXX-1, though on a far smaller scale. This, combined with its unpredictable behavior, makes remaining in close proximity to the entity highly hazardous. SCP-XXXX-2 has proven difficult to subdue using conventional weapons, primarily due to its constantly shifting physical proportions and features, which grant it pseudo-regenerative capabilities – as a component of its body transforms, any signs of injury disappear rapidly. It is, however, highly sensitive to electrical currents4, and may therefore be disoriented via the use of electrical weaponry (see document-XXXX-Gamma for further details).

The deployment of reality-stabilization devices such as Scranton Reality Anchors within SCP-XXXX has an immediate, adverse effect on SCP-XXXX-2, and causes it to rapidly enter an "aggression" state. The entity will then move towards the location of said devices, regardless of relative position and distance, and attempt to disable them by any means available. Though SRAs are capable of dampening SCP-XXXX-2’s reality-warping effect, they do not inhibit its ability to transform. As such, their use in the containment of SCP-XXXX is prohibited until further notice. Following Incident SCP-XXXX-D, SCP-XXXX-2 has begun to attack certain non-human entities within SCP-XXXX, including drones and sufficiently large animals, but will not actively pursue them unless they enter close proximity of SCP-XXXX-1. As demonstrated during incident SCP-XXXX-C, SCP-XXXX-2 is generally unwilling to, but capable of, exiting the confines of SCP-XXXX. Due to this, current containment measures have been enacted.

Addendum 1 - Discovery Log: SCP-XXXX first came to the Foundation's attention in February 2001, when automated Foundation data-monitoring units assigned to the BEPHLEGOR initiative detected an abnormally high rate of disappearances in the vicinity of ███████-12 (a notable area of interest with regards to [REDACTED]). After cross-referencing with GRU-P archives, Mobile Task Force Delta-29 ("Shackleton's Sailors") were dispatched to investigate potential anomalies, and ascertain the probability of GOI-████ involvement. MTF operatives were successful in their inital foray into the facility, and succeeded in recovering several GRU-P documents pertaining to SCP-XXXX's origin. However, shortly after extraction of said documents was carried out via drone, radio contact with all operatives was lost, and the entire task force was presumed KIA. Analysis of recovered materials allowed for the identification of SCP-XXXX-1 as [FURTHER INFORMATION RESTRICTED TO CLEARANCE LEVEL 4/BEPHLEGOR].

Footnotes

1. Sampling attempts carried out via drone resulted in the immediate amplification of SCP-XXXX-1's anomalous effect, and the production of a form of radiation consistent with [DATA EXPUNGED]. Identification and recovery of the drone was deemed impossible, due to presumed drastic alterations to the method by which it interacts with local reality.

2. Analysis of these glyphs is ongoing as part of sub-initiative BEPHLEGOR/Gorynich.

3. Notably, the likelihood of "aggression" states seems to directly correlate with nearby humans' proximity to SCP-XXXX-1.

4. Theorized to be the mechanism by which it hunts, though it is unknown at the time whether the entity possesses a need for nutrition.